Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Master Of The Universe: The Theatrical Director As Artist And Communicator, Audrey Thomas

Masters Theses

This qualitative study was undertaken to examine the processes by which theatrical directors determine the theme for a production and communicate their unifying artistic visions to the agents who, in turn, relay it to the audience. The research revealed that the director's message is formed through comprehensive study of the text, the artifact around which the system is formed, as well as information which provides context for the work of the playwright; consideration of the theatrical organization's missional objectives (the environment in which the system exists); and concerns of artistic leadership. Communication of the concept to stakeholders, and ultimately to …

Loving The Art In Yourself, Mary Moynihan

Books/Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Tallest Tree In The Forest, Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

"Playwright and actor Daniel Beaty’s solo performance as Paul Robeson in The Tallest Tree in the Forest, commissioned by Tectonic Theater Project and coproduced by La Jolla Playhouse and Kansas City Repertory Theatre, was a tour-de-force biographical tribute."

Spectacles Of Reform: Theater And Activism In Nineteenth-Century America By Amy E. Hughes (Review), Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

In Spectacles of Reform Amy Hughes advocates for “spectacle as methodology” (4), a means of interpreting spectacle in nineteenth-century melodrama, as well as a wide variety of other media, that rehearses and reforms concepts of citizenship and identity related to race, class, gender, and morality. Through this lens, Hughes seeks to answer the questions “where and how do activist spectacles appear before and beyond the theatrical encounter?” and “why is spectacle kept alive through reinvention, revision, and repetition long after the drama is over?” (5). Hughes traces her theory of the spectacular instant through three popular sensation themes of the …

Costume Design: A Vision From Paper To Reality, Caitlin Joye Moraska

Theses and Dissertations

What is art? Thomas Merton said, "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." This thesis is a detailed reflection of my process as a designer and how I have grown not only as a person but also, as an artist during my three years at the University of South Carolina. It describes my process and effort to refine my skills as a costume designer and to create the indelible world; that captures a plays mood, its characters, genre and time period.

Magdelena Abakanowicz stated that, "Art will remain the most astonishing activity of mankind …

Moving Wheels, Heels, And Hearts: A Look At Dance Therapy And Down Syndrome, Adeline Rose Zemcik

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Moving Wheels and Heels is a Dance Therapy workshop in White Planes, New York for adults with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. Following a daily schedule, the dancers led by Sabatino Verlezza, Barbara Verlezza, and Nancy Lushington take part in May O'Donnell dance technique classes and choreograph themed pieces for the final performance at the end of the week-long workshop. One of the participants is a dancer with Down syndrome and inspired further research into the benefits of dancing for persons with Down syndrome. Dancing works to target and improve genetic, structural and muscular weaknesses, masks the task with an enjoyable …

Dance Therapy Action Plan: Improving Body Posture And Quality Of Life In Older Patients, Madelyn A. Prebola

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Dance as a form of therapy for older patients (70+ years old) offers a unique solution to the discrepancy between the mind and body that we see in the aging process. Though loss of muscle mass in aging is not a necessary part of aging, it can lead to inactivity in aging adults. Inactivity due to limited range of motion in older patients can result in negative feelings of self-worth. This action plan for older patients is a multidisciplinary approach to dance therapy as a tool for improving body posture and, therefore, overall quality of life. By looking at the …

Relation And Responsibility: A Levinasian Reading Of King Lear, Kent Lehnhof

English Faculty Articles and Research

Emmanuel Levinas’s ideas about intersubjectivity can change our reading of Shakespeare by putting philosophical pressure on Shakespeare’s dramatization of human relatedness in The Tragedy of King Lear (1607–8). Even though Levinas does not discuss Lear at length in any of his published work, this difficult philosopher and this difficult play have much to say to one another. Levinas can be fruitfully brought to bear on Shakespeare’s great tragedy, generating fresh and productive ideas about its most pivotal moments, its most perplexing questions, and its most popular interpretations. In addition, Levinas can provide a useful frame for discussing the nature of …

Hamlet By William Shakespeare. Teatro São Pedro, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Directed By Ron Daniels, Steve Earnest

Theatre

Performance review of Hamlet by William Shakespeare at the Teatro São Pedro in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Directed by Ron Daniels.

Toward A Cross-Cultural Aesthetic: Directing A Kabuki-Inspired Madame De Sade, Kathryn Ruth Letrent

Theses and Dissertations

This text is a record of the preparation and rehearsal of a kabuki-inspired production of Madame de Sade by Yukio Mishima in an English translation by Donald Keene. The goals of this production were both artistic and pedagogical. I applied my knowledge of Japanese theatre and skills in directing skills in a new way to create a work of theatre with a cross-cultural aesthetic appropriate to both the play and the audience. This production also gave the cast of undergraduate acting students the experience of combining truthful and stylized acting and introduced them to both kabuki and Stella Adler acting …

Humanistic Psychology In Selected Plays By Lorraine Hansberry: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Shaimaa M. Saeed

English Language and Literature

Psychoanalysis has long been a breakthrough in the field of literary criticism. This book celebrates the intermarriage between two fields: psychology and literature. It provides a thorough analysis of selected dramatic texts authored by the Afro-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Such analysis is achieved through employing the humanistic psychology theories of the leading humanistic psychologists: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Rollo May to emphasize that features of humanistic psychology are detected in Hansberry's plays. The interdisciplinary nature of the book calls for psychology and literature readers who have a passion for deduction & induction and a desire to navigate through different …

Ua68/1/2 Potter College Of Arts & Letters Dean, Assistant Deans, Committees Events, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by the Potter College of Arts & Letters Dean's Office regarding events, performances, series, conferences, and lectures sponsored or produced by Potter College for faculty, staff, students and general public.

Includes records related to the Cultural Enhancement Committee, Fine Arts Festival, Faculty Lecture Series, Visual & Performing Arts and Kentucky Heritage Project.

The Visible #Family: Using The Hashtag To Study Family Construction, Joshua M. Parcha

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to see, through a raw collection of data, how the family is currently being portrayed on social networking sites. Twitter is used to examine the social construction of family based upon observing tweets that contain #family. This paper argues that the family is best understood as being constructed through interactions with others, using symbolic interaction theory for theoretical grounding. Through examining over 1,000 tweets using a grounded theory methodological approach, three main themes emerged: family types, statements of family, and the esoteric family. The emergent themes suggest several implications, including that the family is …

Speak Out Loud: Deconstructing Shame And Fear Through Theater In A Community-Based Service-Learning Project, Karina Elizabeth Vázquez

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

The combination of theater and community-based service-learning can be a powerful tool to allow university students to meet their educational goals while connecting them with the world. The performance of children's theater in elementary schools with English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs, for example, has important pedagogical and social effects. For both groups of students, this becomes an opportunity to be better prepared for a level of social engagement involving bilingualism that was not necessarily available to their parents and/or members of their community. The author describes and analyzes the results of teh adaptation and performance of Alfonsina …

Front Matter, Nfa Journal

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

Scenic Design: A Compilation, Kelly Meredith Paysinger Hart

Theses and Dissertations

Scenic Design: A Compilation ventures into the process of creating three productions including, Boeing Boeing, Fusions and Three Sisters. Exploring the foundations of each design, the content covers all aspects from the beginning to the implementation of each production. Supported through historical research, inspiration, function of space and the endless possibilities of creation, this thesis will reveal the growth of each design in great detail. Theatre is about collaboration, creating a world from a script and transforming it into an art of performance and design.

Costume Design: More Than Imagination, Sean Anthony Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Through an analysis of my Costume Design process for Present Laughter by Noel Coward (2012), King Lear by William Shakespeare (2013) and Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (2014), presented at the University of South Carolina, I hope to relay the experience I gained as an artist and student. By examining my journey from an undergraduate design student, to graduate design student, and finally as an intern with William Ivey Long, I will analyze my work as a Costume Designer.

Collaborative Costume Design, April Emily Andrew

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores my portfolio of graduate work as a costume designer, covering four diverse theatrical works. 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, a self proclaimed "Mississippi Delta Comedy" by Tennessee Williams examines the themes of domestic violence, isolation, and desire in rural America. Polaroid Stories, a modern poetic play by Naomi Iizuka, blends the harsh realities facing today's street youth with classical mythology to create a unique and theatrical world. Jeffrey Hatcher transported us back to the spectacle, scandal, and upheaval of King Charles II's English Restoration in Compleat Female Stage Beauty, following actor Edward Kynaston, who famed diarist Samuel …

The Marauder’S Son: An Exploration Of The Classical Story Ballet And Children’S Literature, Emily H. Kleeman

Pitzer Senior Theses

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling was, for many Millennials, a defining literary and media experience. The popularity of the series has spawned many fan-made parodies. Meanwhile, in recent years, the classical Petipa story ballet style has begun to give way to more modern structures of choreography. The Marauder’s Son, the culmination of a yearlong choreographic endeavor, is a story ballet that strives to introduce new audiences to classical dance through the use of the first book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The full production is available for viewing in the …

The Rivals: A Comedy, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, John Bellomo

Theatre & Dance Faculty Publications & Performances

"The Rivals" is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. Translated and adapted by John Bellomo from the Larpent Manuscript.

The Triangle Factory Fire Project Master's Thesis, Theresa Nigus

Theses

T71e Triangle Factory Fire Project brin.gs to light one or the worst industrial accidents in the history of New York City. The lives of 142 young immigrant workers were lost in a literal inferno, greatly due to the lack of safety regulations within the factory. Witness statements and actuc:11 transcript from the trial of factory co-owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris illustrate the events that brought about some of the greatest change in safety regulations in American history.

Blanche Dubois: Feminist Forerunner, Andrea M. Grey

Theses

Andrea M. Grey’s thesis, Blanche Dubois: Feminist Forerunner, explores Blanche Dubois from Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire as a proto-feminist figure. Challenging traditional interpretations of Blanche as merely fragile or delusional, Grey argues that Blanche exhibits traits of modern feminism, advocating for female independence, financial self-sufficiency, and resistance to patriarchal oppression.

Blanche’s education, career as a teacher, and efforts to manage her family’s estate position her as an independent woman in a male-dominated world. However, societal constraints and gendered double standards undermine her agency. Her sexual autonomy is condemned while her male counterparts’ indiscretions are ignored. Blanche’s opposition …

Dancing In The Stacks: Dance Works And The Concept Of Authorship In Libraries, Dominique Bourassa

Library Staff Publications

It is self-evident to choreographers, dancers and dance scholars that dances are works in their own right as much as literary and musical works are. However, from an American library perspective, this fact was not fully acknowledged until 20 years ago. Indeed, the historical mistreatment of dance works has evolved from their once total absence from subject taxonomies, to their being classified with works about recreation instead of among the “serious” arts, to their being subordinated to music. The situation greatly improved in 1994 with the publication by the Library of Congress (LC) of special cataloging rules that finally treat …

Technology And Wonder In Thirteenth-Century Iberia And Beyond, Christopher B. Swift

Publications and Research

As the desire for affective experiences of the sacred increased in communities across Europe in the late Middle Ages, the Christian faithful crafted lifelike, mechanized figures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints for use in religious festivals. Although each devotional culture evidences unique body/object relationships and meanings, in general animated ritual objects encouraged lay participation in the celebration of saints and the Passion by engaging the senses, and, consequently, an emotional sense of God. In this essay I investigate the ritual alliances between moveable, prop-like saints and their Iberian devotees, in particular the performative meanings that arose from encounters …

Next To Normal: A Costume Design Based In Psychological Research, Grace R. Kinser

Honors Program Theses

Throughout my life my two main interests have been theatre and people. When I came to UNI I found a way to pursue these interests through my education, with a psychology major and a theatre minor. I had the first idea for my thesis when I had the opportunity to take some upper level costume design classes alongside some of my upper level psychology courses, and I noticed how naturally the two areas of study fit together. As I began to choose my play, started to think about the psychological concepts in the shows I was reading, and progressed with …

The Aesthetic Which Is Not One: The Feminist (Un)Aesthetic In The Works Of Caryl Churchill And Suzan Lori-Parks, Kathren Martin

Theses and Dissertations

In the following essay I will establish a theatrical feminist (un)aesthetic that resists essentialism, which creates the dramaturgical space necessary to present a feminist (un)subject. The rejection of Ibsenite realism within the (un)aesthetic disrupts the male gaze as theorized by Laura Mulvey. This is achieved through a materialist feminist focus that highlights the constructive nature of gender difference anf disrupts the production of "woman" as sign. Through the use of Brechtian alienation techniques and theatrical formalism, the playwrights Caryl Churchill (Cloud Nine) and Suzan-Lori Parks (Venus) force the feminist goals of the (un)aesthetic to be considered beyond the context of …

Sighting Circus: Perceptions Of Circus Phenomena Investigated Through Diverse Bodies, Katrina Lavers

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is an investigation into modern circus from its beginnings in 1768 through to present day contemporary circus arts. Eight diverse bodies in modern and contemporary circus are explored. These eight bodies act as different lenses to focus enquiry into gaps or ruptures in the grand narratives of circus, to reveal previously missing voices and histories and to set in place new approaches to perceiving circus phenomena.

In The Political Body, the phenomenon of embodied protest is identified and explored in relation to contemporary circus works. The importance of the engaged spectator is identified in determining political, poetic …

The Poetics Of Gravity: Performance Experiments From The Natural Environment To The Stage, Russya Connor

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Gravity understood scientifically is normally accepted as a dictate, however when encountered creatively, the possibilities for playing with and learning from gravity in natural environments are plentiful.

This practice-led research explores gravity in both artistic and functional contexts. Two nature-specific sports (ocean diving and rock-climbing) and then later, aerial silk work, acted as springboards for explorations of creative expression derived from the states of submersion and suspension. To ‘really feel’ gravity, I decided to explore its effects and impressions, physically and emotionally, in environments that draw attention to its presence. Attempts were made to capture gravity in a series of …

Confronting Terezin: A Production History Of Maurice Sendak And Tony Kushner's Brundibar, Justin Almquist

All Master's Theses

Maurice Sendak and Tony Kushner adapted Hans Krasa and Adolf Hoffmeister's opera Brundibar for the English speaking stage as well as a children's book, but they struggled with the message the work should pose to audiences. During World War II, fifty-five performances of the opera were staged within Terezin, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Kushner and Sendak questioned the extent to which the adaptation should memorialize its Holocaust past, or offer new political aspirations. I used archive-based research to reconstruct the development and first productions of the script, which fixated on Sendak and Kushner's competing aesthetic and political perspectives. By …

Eye For The Gap: Frenzy, Liberty, And The Nietszchean Chorus In Conor Mcpherson's The Weir And Shining City, Frances Krieg

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study situates The Weir and Shining City by Conor McPherson as embodying elements of Dionysian aesthetics as elucidated by Friedrich Nietzsche. Working through the lenses of Samuel Beckett’s linguistic philosophy and the premium of theater as established by Nietzsche, Artaud, and Brecht, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate how McPherson pierces the boundaries of language in drama by establishing his audience as chorus. Background information on Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy and McPherson’s own comments on the plays are included with the research on the plays themselves. This work articulates the chorus itself but also the choral, …